Sift flour and salt into a bowl andfirst rub in 25 g butter. Then add diced
chilled butter and rub in until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. First sprinkle3 tablespoon water and make a dough. Add remaining
water to make a smooth dough. Turn onto a floured surface and shape into a flat
disc. Wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hour.

When ready to roll out,allow the dough to come back to room temperature. Flour a large work
surface well and roll the dough out to about 5 mm / ¼ - inch thick.

Make biscuits with the help of a biscuit cutter or with the help of an inverted
lid.

Leave enough space (1/2
- inch) between each biscuit and bake
for 25 - 30 minutes in 2 batches (bake 12 biscuits at a time – depending upon
the size of the baking tray) or until they turn light goldenin color.

Remove from the oven and keep aside to cool for 20 minutesand store in an airtight container.

In a bowl, mix all the batter ingredients together and make
a batter with 1- 3 tablespoon water. First add 2 tablespoon water. Later adjust with remaining water. Batter should not be too watery. It should be medium thick. Add sliced onions and mix well. Keep aside this bhaji batter for 15 minutes.

Heat oil in a frying pan / karahi. Reduce heat to medium and drop teaspoons (or
use small spoon which shape like ice cream scoop to get evenly round shape ) of
the bhaji batter (6 - 7 onion bhajis at
a time – depending upon the size of pan) and fry till golden color on both the
sides.

Drain and place on kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.

Serve hot as an evening snack with Tomato ketchup or coconut chutney or serve as a starter or as a side dish with Indian breads.

Transfer all the ingredients into a small mixer bowl and
make a smooth paste with 2 tablespoon water. Finally, adjust the consistency of
the chutney with extra 50 ml (1/4 cup) water if required. Or serve as thick chutney.

For seasoning:

2 teaspoon oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

¼ teaspoon jeera cumin seeds

2 shallots, finely sliced

4 curry leaves

Method

Heat oil in a tadka pan or a small pan. Add mustard seeds.
When they crackle, add jeera , curry leaves and sliced shallots. Fry on a low heat for 2 – 4 minutes until
fragrant and crisp. Pour this seasoning over chutney and serve with dosa / idli
/ vada / pongal ..

Dec 28, 2012

Spring rolls (veg or non veg filling) are one of the most
popular snack in Chinese cuisine. These are delicious dipped in sweet- sour sauce or plum sauce. Here’s recipe of
how to make homemade spring roll wrapper. Recipe from Family Cook Book by Parragon Books, Bristol
!!

Makes: 12 wrappers

Ingredients

120 g / 4 oz plain flour (or 1 cup / 200 ml)

1 egg, beaten

3 tablespoon cold water

Method

To prepare the wrappers, to sift the flour into a bowl and
make a well in the centre. Add the beaten egg and about 1 tablespoon cold
water. Begin beating with a wooden spoon, gradually drawing in the flour from
the outside to make a smooth dough. Add extra 1 – 2 tablespoon water if
necessary.

Knead the dough until it is elastic and pliable. Place in a
covered bowl and chill forabout 4 hours
or overnight (This recipe step is very important).

When ready to roll out,
allow the dough to come back to room temperature. Flour a large work
surface well and roll the dough out to about 5 mm / ¼ - inch thick.

Cut the dough into 12 equal portionsand then roll each piece into a large square
about 15 cm / 6 inches. The dough should be very thin. Coverwith a damp cloth while preparing the filling
(any filling of your choice, veg or non veg).

Lay out wrappers on a clean work surfacewith apoint of each wrapper facing you. Brush the edgeslightly withthe beaten egg.

Divide the filling
among all 12 wrappers, placing it just above the front point. Fold over
the sides like an envelop. Then fold over the nearest point until the filling
is completely covered. Roll up as for a Swiss Roll. Press all the edges to seal
well.

Heat 250 ml oil in a
wok on a medium heat and deep fry spring
rolls until golden color on both the sides (4 spring rolls at a time –
depending upon the size of the wok / pan). Maintain the heat between low to medium. Do not fry on high heat. It will get brown color immediately and inside portion won't cook properly. Drain out from oil and place on a
kitchen towel to absorb extra oil. Serve with sweet – sour sauce / tomato
ketchup.

Anzac biscuits are delicious biscuits in Australia and New
Zealand. These biscuits are made of flour, coconut, golden syrup, rolled oats and unsalted butter.
Recipe from ‘’ A step by step guide to Breads, Cakes & Slices”.

Makes: 26 Anzac biscuits

Ingredients

Please measure all the ingredients in standard measuring cup of 250 ml capacity and use same measuring cup to measure flour, sugar, oats and desiccated coconut.

Sift flour and sugar into large mixing bowl. Add oats and
coconut; make a well in the centre.

Combine butter and golden syrup in small pan. Stir over low
heat until butter has melted and mixture is smooth; remove from heat. Dissolve
soda in boiling water; add immediately to butter mixture. It will foam up instantly.
Add butter mixture to dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, stir until well
combined.

Drop one level tablespoon of mixture at a time onto prepared
tray. Flatten gently with fingers, allowing room for spreading (leave 1- inch
gap between each biscuit). Bake for 20 minutes or until just browned.

Remove from oven, transfer to wire rack to cool. Store
biscuits in an airtight container for upto 3 days.

Dec 26, 2012

Challas for Cutlet & Biryani (Challas or Onion Salad is popular in Kerala cuisine. Best
with veg or non vegcutlets and as a
side dish with biryanis. Indian Coffee House in Kerala serves this type of onion salad with
cutlets. A very easy salad preparation with minimum ingredients. Here’s the
recipe !!!)Here's the recipe of Baked Vegetable CutletsHere's the recipe of Baked Potato BallsHere's the recipe of Deep fried vegetable cutlets

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1big onion (I big
size or 2 small size)

1 cup / 200 ml water

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 small green chilli, remove seeds and chop very fine or cut
with kitchen scissor

1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Method

Cut onion into very thin slices and separate each layer.

Soak sliced onions in 1 cup water for 15 minutes. Squeeze
out water (This recipe step is very important to make challas).

Finally mix onion with vinegar, salt and finely chopped
green chilli. Consume after half an hour. Then onion will absorb all the
flavors and it will become soft too. Serve with cutlet / biryani …

Wash and clean chicken pieces. Drain out water thoroughly.
In a bowl, marinate chicken pieces evenly with turmeric powder and salt. Cover
and keep aside for half an hour.

Other ingredients for the soup:

3 cloves

3 cardamom

1 cinnamon stick

¾ teaspoon red chilli powder

12 – 14 shallots (chuvannulli / small onion), chopped

1 teaspoon chopped ginger

10 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

3 cups / 600 ml water

Method

In a wide bowl, boil marinated chicken pieces with spice
paste, shallots (ulli), garlic, ginger, vinegar, salt to taste (first add 3/4
teaspoon and check the taste) and water (up to the level of chicken pieces),
Cover with a lid and boil on a medium to low heat for 20 -25 minutes until the water (stock) has
reduced to about 2 cups / well cooked. Strain thissoup through a clean iron sieve and use for
Chicken soup / any gravy dishes / to cook rice …

Add cooked chicken pieces and adjust salt to taste. Mix all
the ingredients well. Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes or
until chicken pieces well combined with all the spices (do not add water / soup while
cooking). Serve as side dish with Parotta / Rotis / Rice / Pulao / Brown bread
…